Business Desk
All the indices in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) p;unged on Wednesday as the dominant small investors embarked on a selling spree, dealers said.
They said the selling spree sparked after a court had issued a warrant of arrest against Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chief Begum Khaleda Zia for failing to attend a trial session on graft. Investors feared escalation of turmoil on the back of an ongoing nationwide transport strike and hartal in case Khalada Zia a former prime minister was arrested.
At DSE the prime index DSEX dipped below 4,800-mark again and ended at at 4,742.22 points, shedding 58.92 points or 1.22 per cent while the DS30 index, comprising blue chips lost 23.05 points or 1.28 per cent to close at 1,770.02 and the Shariah Index DSES plunged 13.38 points or 1.17 per cent to close at 1,126.79 points.
At CSE the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - lost 90.46 points to close at 8,818.01 points as losers beat gainers 186 to 35, with 24 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 7.45 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 267.54 million.
At DSE the turnover however rallied to Tk 3.42 billion, registering an increase of 10.68 per cent over the over the previous session's value of Tk 3.09 billion. The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 308 issues traded, 248 decline, 36 advanced and 24 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
MJL BD was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 1185.46 million changing hands followed by Square Pharma, Lafarge Surma Cement, ACI and BSCCL. National Tubes was the day's top gainer, posting a rise of 5.04 per cent while NCC Bank Mutual Fund One was the day's worst loser, losing 6.25 per cent.